ViSalus' revenue has spiraled down since the summer of 2012, when the company peaked at 114,000 distributors and $190 million in quarterly sales.

Written by

Business continues to plummet for a Troy-based direct sales company similar to Amway and Herbalife that was flying high two years ago.

A seller of nutritional and weight-loss supplements, ViSalus reported Friday that its net sales fell 47% in the second quarter from a year ago to $53.6 million. ViSalus had 28,700 product distributors in North America as of June 30 - half what it had a year earlier.

The company reported a $1.3-million loss in the second quarter, compared with $2.8 million in profit for the same period in 2013. Friday's earnings report was announced by ViSalus' corporate ...